Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I'm sorry for not updating for so long - school has been a real pain in the butt, but it's officially mid-winter break over here, so hopefully, that means more writing time for me! (Oh, and the track season is finally over! Phew!)

Enjoy!

Hidden Message Nine.

"I saved a piece for you."

"Clara?"

Clara peered down from her magazine to see Archie siting on the floor next to her. The young boy had a book on his lap, and he no longer looked the child he used to be when Clara was still a nanny – but all the same, Archie Maitland had the same innocent look in his eyes that he had carried with himself through adolescence. It had been a few years since Clara had last looked over the Maitland children, but here they were now – Angie was stretched out on the couch, typing away at her phone and occasionally sharing a joke out loud. Archie had been absolutely quiet, flipping through Clara's books and asking about where her souvenirs came from. The two had grown so much…

"Clara?" Archie asked again.

Clara blinked. "Yes?"

"It's your birthday, but you don't look too happy. Why is that?"

"It's because her boyfriend isn't around," Angie sang from the couch.

Clara picked up a throw cushion and chucked it at the girl, saying indignantly, "It's not because of that."

Laughing, Angie swung her legs off the couch and replied mischievously, "Don't worry. We still haven't told Dad about that one time your boyfriend brought us to the amusement park." She cast her phone aside, which Clara noted with some dread. If Angie was looking away from her phone, that meant she was looking for some other source of interest – and Clara preferred to keep her (nonexistent) love life out of it. "Where is the Doctor, anyways?" Angie asked, resting her chin on her hands. "It's been ages since we've last seen his chin. And his bowtie."

Clara averted her eyes, pretending to be interested with a magazine cover. "He went away," she replied as lightly as she possibly could. "And he's been busy. Traveling and all that."

"Shouldn't you be traveling with him?" Angie asked, and though it was an innocent enough question, Clara caught something edgier in her voice. Again, Clara threw a throw cushion at her. It missed, and Angie was left laughing over her former-nanny's obvious aggravation.

"Leave her alone, Angie," Archie said crossly. "What happened to Clara's boyfriend isn't really our business."

"But it is! She was our nanny!"

"Clara, can I have another piece of cake?" Angie asked exasperatedly. Clara felt a sudden burst of affection for the boy and with a nod, she stood up and left the sitting room. She heard Angie sigh dejectedly ("I was only joking around, Archie – God"), but Clara set on cutting off another slice of cake. Mr. Maitland had brought it himself before wishing Clara a happy birthday.

It was her birthday today, obviously.

She'd be twenty-nine years old.

What a thought.

Actually, Clara wasn't sure what to think about her birthday being today. So far, the day had been tear-achingly normal, and to her absolute chagrin, the Doctor hadn't even stopped by. Clara had tried not to get so worked up about it; knowing the old man, he was probably stuck between some Daleks and Cybermen again – but still, it stung just the tiniest bit. There was, of course, the slightest chance that the Doctor might end up coming at Clara's doorstep two weeks later, probably with birthday greeting…but then Clara would have to tiredly explain to him that her birthday was days ago…and, as usual, he had been late for it.

And from there, the situation could go in a number of ways. Which would be complicated and unnecessary and certainly not comfortable for either of them.

Clara hesitated before leaving the kitchen. There was still quite a bit of cake left – and it was good cake. Clara only had a slice before retiring back to her sitting room, where she was sure she wouldn't be tempted to take another piece.

"Oh, it's my birthday," Clara muttered, taking out another plate from the cupboard. "To hell with eating healthy. I'm going to indulge." As soon as those words were said, Clara felt a bit more confident and ready in continuing with her halfhearted birthday celebration. She carefully pushed aside Archie's plate – and then loaded on a slice of the cake onto her own.

Before Clara could leave the kitchen for good, she decided to get a slice for Angie, too. A peace offering, she figured, if anything.

Balancing the three plates carefully, Clara headed into the living room. Angie was still on the couch, and Archie had migrated from Clara's books to schoolwork. Clara gingerly sat down on the ground and distributed the cake, which earned her a chorus of "thank you"s and a better attitude from Angie.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of watching a movie and listening to Angie complain about the kids in her school ("honestly, Clara, they're ridiculous. I told her that if she didn't want to kiss him, then she shouldn't have done it. But no, she wanted to be polite so that twat. Don't you think that's utterly stupid?") – and, more importantly, slowly finishing the cake. It wasn't until there were two slices left did Clara put the cake back in the kitchen.

"What'd you do that for?" Angie complained.

"I don't know," Clara replied truthfully. "But who knows – I might need it again."

Angie wrinkled her nose. "You can be weird."

"Or I can be preservative. Come on, tell me more about that new classmate of yours."

Angie eventually broke out a game of cards, which shut Angie up. The three all sat around the carpet, shouting themselves hoarse about who cheated and who didn't and who won and who lost and all things related to everything that came with an intense game of Go Fish.

Clara was about to suggest another round of the game to ease the soreness of losing when suddenly, the cards flew out of her hands. She stood stock-still as a familiar sound filled her apartment. The rest of the cards fluttered off the carpet – and suddenly, Angie and Archie were both squealing, "It's him!"

Oh, God, it's him, Clara thought faintly, and without another word, she stood to her feet and turned around to find a familiar blue box sitting right next to her couch.

The Doctor's head emerged from the doors a moment later. He turned his head from side to side and, after a pause, he grinned. "Oh, good," he said, stepping out of the TARDIS. "I've landed right this time." He looked down at Clara. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"Am I late? Terribly late?"

Clara couldn't help herself. She felt a corner of her mouth tug into a smile. "Not terribly," she replied. She bent down and held up a plate. "Saved a piece for you."

"…is that the Doctor?"

Clara and the Doctor both turned to see Angie and Archie taking in the TARDIS with wide eyes. Ah, Clara thought. In the hassle of hearing the TARDIS, she had nearly forgotten that the Maitland kids were still there.

"He is," Clara replied, neatly cutting off the last piece of cake.

Angie narrowed her eyes, and for a moment, Clara's heart clenched. She waited for the teenager to say something – to point something out – or maybe even call her father –

Instead, Angie grumped, "You should have come earlier."

"I'm working on that," the Doctor replied, forking away at his cake. "How's your phone?"

"Still working."

"Good, that."

Angie sat back down on the ground. "Do you wanna play Go Fish?"

"Wouldn't mind."

Clara grinned for real this time, sitting down next to the Doctor. She hummed Happy Birthday to herself for the rest of the night.

A/N - And my birthday's also coming up in three days (Feb. 17), so I thought this was fitting.

As always, reviews would be great! Constructive criticism is alright, but flames are not!